Mount Rainier Council to Vote On Becoming ’Sanctuary’ City...

Mount Rainier Council to Vote On Becoming 'Sanctuary' City



By Jackie SpinnerWashington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 20, 2008; Page C04


The tiny city of Mount Rainier is considering whether to declare itself a sanctuary for illegal immigrants, entering a regional and national debate over enforcement of immigration law.

If the City Council approves the proposal, the eclectic city of 9,000 in Prince George's County will join nearby Takoma Park in prohibiting police officers and city workers from checking the immigration status of residents or reporting those who lack legal residency documents to federal immigration authorities. Takoma Park has been a "sanctuary" city since 1985.

Mount Rainier City Council member Pedro Briones, who proposed the measure, said his intent is not to protect criminals but to allow all immigrants access to community services "so long as they are contributing residents of Mount Rainier and follow our city rules and regulations."

Briones added: "Until we have more effective national immigration policies, there's no reason why hardworking immigrants who may be undocumented should live in fear that their local police, code enforcement officer or sanitation worker is going to turn them over for possible deportation."

The five-member, nonpartisan council is expected to vote on the measure after a Feb. 12 public hearing. One other council member has endorsed the measure, and another was said to be leaning in favor. But the city, like the Washington region, appears split on the issue.

Last year, Prince William County supervisors approved a resolution meant to deny illegal immigrants certain public services and increase immigration enforcement by local police. Loudoun County supervisors also approved a measure to restrict access to public services for illegal immigrants, although a new majority on the Loudoun board recently distanced itself from that policy.

In Arlington County, supervisors voiced sympathy for illegal immigrants displaced from other communities but declined to pass legislation that would offer them sanctuary. Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) has said the county should not be in the business of enforcing immigration issues but has gone no further. Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold (R) has issued an executive order declaring that the county will sever contracts with businesses caught employing illegal immigrants.

Mount Rainier is known as a funky, left-leaning community. The city has a cooperative swimming pool, vegetarian food store, cooperative bicycle shop and community tool shed for residents to borrow lawn mowers and chain saws. Signs calling for the repeal of Maryland's death penalty and the impeachment of President Bush dot many residential lawns like colorful flags at a political convention.

Census data show that almost 28 percent of residents are foreign-born, compared with about 11 percent nationally. Nearly 30 percent of residents speak a language other than English at home, almost double the national average.

A Mount Rainier e-mail group list has been flooded with postings on the sanctuary proposal. Council members expect a large turnout at the hearing.

Sandra Joseph, an administrative secretary who has lived in the city for 20 years, said she opposes the measure.

"While I feel for people wanting to better their lives, coming here illegally and getting the benefits just isn't right," she said. "We just don't have the resources for something like that."

Victor M. Kenworthy, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 85, which represents the city's police officers, said national immigration policies and laws should be reviewed. But he said local law enforcement should not be prohibited from cooperating with federal authorities.

"That's a big sticking point for us," he said. "You have a local entity coming up with some type of legislation that says it doesn't recognize federal law. It's not a question of whether the law is right or wrong. We have to respect the law whether we like it or not."

In fact, city policy bars the police department from enforcing federal immigration laws and from inquiring about a person's citizenship status. The proposed legislation would extend that sanctuary policy to any agent, officer, employee, contractor or subcontractor of the city.

"There are great residents in our town from various Latin American countries," said council member Jimmy Tarlau, who supports the Briones proposal. "We want to reach out to them. We want to indicate that they are welcome and we don't really care about their status."

If the measure passes, Mount Rainier will join more than 30 other cities nationwide that have sanctuary laws in place, including Seattle, San Francisco, Albuquerque, Austin, Los Angeles and Madison, Wis.

The sanctuary movement took hold in the 1980s, inspired by churches that were helping Central Americans who fled civil war at home. Berkeley, Calif., and St. Paul, Minn., were the first two cities to adopt sanctuary laws in response. Takoma Park reaffirmed its status as a sanctuary city in October after its police chief asked for and was denied more leeway to execute immigration warrants.

Federal authorities, however, have pledged to uphold immigration laws, conducting raids on businesses and arresting and deporting illegal residents whether they live in a sanctuary city or not.

"Those who willfully violate U.S. immigration laws face the consequences of their actions," said Pat A. Reilly, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "While the courts and various local governments decide how to approach lawmaking in their communities, ICE will continue to enforce the federal laws throughout the country."

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